Demon In Queen’s Hair
Currency is subject to printing errors, so over the course of time, a number of coins and banknotes with misprints were bound to have been found in circulation. Often such ‘misstrikes’ make those particular items more valuable than they otherwise would have been.
Not The Result Of Misprint
In the case of Canadian paper currency, an unusual image, a demon, which was not the result of a misprint, occurred with a series of Canadian banknotes. King George VI’s death in 1952, placed his daughter Elizabeth onto the British throne and thus created the need to display the likeness of the new monarch on monies throughout the British Commonwealth.
In Canada, the banknotes (first issued in 1954) featured portraits of Elizabeth II and it did not take long for Canadians to notice something unusual, even sinister, about the young queen’s hair on their money. A grinning demon was peering out from behind her ear!
Devils Head
The paper currency with the demon came to be known as the “Devil’s Head”, or “Devil’s Face” series and many people continued to see the Prince of Darkness in the Queen’s tresses until 1956, when the Bank of Canada ordered bank note companies to modify the existing plates by darkening the highlights in Her Majesty’s hair to conceal the demon from view.
Result Of Sabotage
Rumor asserted that the “demon” image in the portrait was the result of sabotage by an IRA member, or unhappy francophone, but the odd image’s presence has never been proved to be the result of anything beyond coincidence.
Was It True Or False?
So, the answer to whether it was true or false that there was a demon in Queen Elizabeth’s hair on Canadian currency, is that it’s true.
True
